Offered to the pope Paul IV by Henry II, this work is one of the first antique statues that had made its way to France. Diana for the Romans, it represents, with the accompanying stag, the Greek Artemis, twin sister of Apollo, a farouche virgin and tireless huntress, whose shafts often flew to punish the outrages of man. The statue drew its inspiration from a 4th-century bronze attributed to Leochares: the rippling movement in the folds are part of the novel pursuits of the period, during which forms were humanised.